1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a grinder, more particularly to a pepper mill.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional pepper mill generally comprises a container body, a driving member coupled rotatably to a top end of the container body, and a grinding unit. The container body includes a surrounding wall that defines a receiving space therein for receiving peppercorns. The grinding unit includes a coupling shaft extending in the receiving space and coupled co-rotatably to the driving member, a rotatable grinding seat mounted co-rotatably to a bottom end of the coupling shaft, and a stationary grinding seat surrounding the rotatable grinding seat and cooperating with the rotatable grinding seat to define a grinding space therebetween. As such, when the driving member and the coupling shaft are rotated by 360 degrees, the rotatable grinding seat is also driven to rotate by 360 degrees relative to the stationary grinding seat so as to grind the peppercorns advanced into the grinding space. However, output torque of the coupling shaft cannot be increasingly adjusted to result in a more effort-saving grinding operation. Generally, the conventional pepper mill further comprises an adjusting mechanism that is operable to drive one of the rotatable and stationary grinding seats to move upwardly and downwardly relative to the other one of the rotatable and stationary grinding seats so as to change the size of the grinding space, thereby adjusting the size of ground pepper particles. While the adjusting mechanism may be provided on top of the driving member or a bottom portion of the container body, the former configuration of the adjusting mechanism leads to a pepper mill that has a simpler structure and that is easier to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,794 B1 discloses another conventional pepper mill that has a similar configuration to the abovementioned conventional pepper mill, and that includes an adjusting mechanism operable for changing the size of ground pepper particles. However, the abovementioned drawback that the output torque cannot be adjusted still remains.
EP Publication No. 2,052,655 A2 discloses a food cutting device that has a storage arranged in a housing and supplying goods to be milled. The food cutting device comprises a transmission provided between an actuator and a grinding mill. The transmission is configured as a planetary gear unit, so that rotation of the actuator results in a relatively large output torque to the grinding mill, such that a relatively effort-saving food-grinding operation can be conducted.